Chapter 36
For When We Have Parted May It Not Be the Last
"So to celebrate should I sing during supper?" Much asked later that night with a grin. "Or would everyone prefer to hear Noor tell her stories?"
Everyone laughed as Noor took her place in front of the fire. "Perhaps it is time I finish my story for you Much. Who knows when I will get the chance again? Now I have told you about the brave Scheherazade, who entered the harem of her Sultan?"
Much, Robin and Djaq nodded. "For those who have not heard this, Scheherazade was the daughter of one of the Sultan's wisest advisors. The young Sultan had been hurt in love by a disloyal wife; a woman sold to him that had fallen in love with another." With these words, Noor looked at Robin. "When the Sultan Sayeedi had discovered her and her lover, he had killed her but spared his brother's life. In his grief Sayeedi had sworn to never be deceived by another woman. So each night he had taken a new bride, having them killed the next morning so that they could never deceive him. Soon all the maidens of his land where terrified to be called before Sayeedi, for of course what woman wishes to die?
Yet, the wise and beautiful Scheherazade volunteered to become the bride of Sayeedi even though her father's position as his advisor protected her. That night and many after she told her Sultan the stories of the harem; always making sure to leave the story unfinished so that Sayeedi would leave her alive long enough to find out the end. These are the stories that wives always tell their husbands in the night; the stories of how men should rule and be ruled, as well as how to live their lives as righteous men. These are the stories that I have told you and Robin, Much." Noor continued with a smile.
"Well after 1001 nights, Scheherazade finished the stories of the harem. Yet, by then the Sultan Sayeedi had grown to know and love her; trusting that not only would she never do him harm but that life without her would be incomplete. By this time Scheherazade had given her Sultan strong princes of the blood and he spared her life and considered her his closest advisor until the end of their days. For them ever after, ended in peace and prosperity. I wish the same for you and Allen, Saphia. Now take your husband and teach him the wisdom of how to live and love each other." Noor smiled at Djaq who wiped tears from her eyes.
Much stared at her in shock! This couldn't be the end of the stories! What about all the parts she hadn't told them, all the stories she had left unfinished? What happened to Ali Baba, Aladdin, the Prince of the Mountains, the Djinn's of Solomon? Noor couldn't just leave the stories unfinished! "But Noor, how do they end? All of the stories you told us, how do they end?" Much stuttered.
Noor smiled at Much. This was the greatest lesson of the 1001 nights. "They don't end, Much, as long as there is life the story continues. Happily ever after is not an ending, Much, it is a beginning. But my time as your storyteller has come to an end. In the glory and praise of Allah do I leave you." With these words Noor salaamed deeply in front of Much.
Robin was shocked by these words. Not how the story ended, he had always suspected that the stories of Scheherazade had ended this way. Robin was shocked that Noor had ended the stories here. Ending them here was her way of telling Much goodbye and Robin knew that meant she would be returning to the castle.
"Princess Noor, may I speak with you please?" He would end her thoughts on that right now. Noor kissed Abdullah who was sitting in John's lap playing with the ornaments adorning his coat and followed Robin into the woods.
"It was a lovely wedding, Robin. You did quite well and I am proud of you."
"Well it wasn't as lovely as some I have seen, but Allan and Djaq are happy. That's not my concern though; I take it from your ending with Much that you intend to leave us soon?" Robin crossed his arms.
"I think it would be best if you and your men escorted Abdullah and I back to the castle tonight and give Saphia and Allen some privacy. Robin, peace is important. It is more important than my life or yours; it is also more important than the lives of your Sheriff and Prince John. Tomorrow morning Abdullah and I will be found 'poisoned' in the harem. James of Essex has already dispatched a guardsman to kill Prince John and he will storm the castle and kill your Sheriff and Gisbourne. That's the final reason why I didn't allow you to bury the 'pain in the neck', as you call him, alive. They will shroud Abdullah and I and we will be taken from the castle immediately by one of James' men. In two days we will wake once we have arrived somewhere safe. That is how the story of Noor ends Robin. The moral you must take away is that peace is more important than any of us."
Robin nodded at her silently. He knew the look on Noor's face and knew he could not persuade her otherwise. So what he would have to do would be to somehow circumvent her plans. "Doer of good deeds, huh? Letting James of Essex kill these men is a good deed?"
Noor walked away from him silently. Someday he would understand that this was the reason James of Essex had been sent along, originally the King had intended for Robin to kill all these men and Noor had begged that it not be required as a test of his loyalty. Sometimes Robin forgot that 'ever after' was never guaranteed to be happy.